The Content Preferences Survey completed recently by Demand Gen Report, revealed that 48% of B2B buyers explore around five articles before speaking to a sales agent. Despite this, over 70% of sales people do not have a detailed content plan. What is your strategy? Are you one of those 70%? If you are, it is important to understand that you are not just leaving money on the table, you are giving it to your competitors. Your business should have a feasible content marketing strategy, as this is an integral part of any successful endeavour. You can quickly get overwhelmed with the volume of information available on different websites, but don't worry; everyone has been in that situation at some point. Apply these 10 content marketing strategies that are proven to work for any type of business.

1 - Have authoritative content

The internet is constantly changing. Not long ago it was easy to create an audience of fans who would eagerly wait for your latest post. This has changed. Backlinko Founder Brian Dean says that if you are not writing something that will awe your audience, you are just wasting time. The market place is very noisy and overcrowded. Your content needs to be authoritative if it wants to get recognized. You not only need well-researched content, but you also need it to position you at the top of your field.

2 - Ensure that your content is always evergreen

Even though you need to have thoroughly researched content, getting ahead of your competition should not be your only goal. Aim to deliver content that matches the interests of your readers. If you manage to always write evergreen content, the search engine results pages (SERPS) in Google will give you a better ranking. This helps your business to get more leads. In order to achieve this, your content has to be relevant, actionable, friendly to beginners, and easy to read and understand. You should always ensure that you update your content according to the changes in the market. Once you go the extra mile, you will benefit from improved Google rankings.

3 - Use language that is easy to understand

Robert Bly, a famous copywriter, cross-examined 100 CEOs concerning a book he was writing about corporate leadership. He sought to understand whether successful people use complicated language that reflects their high level of education, or whether they speak like common folks. Robert was surprised that most, if not all, CEOs spoke in regular language.

Many writers are tempted to try and write in a way that measures up to great modern writers, hence making their writing too complicated. If you are doing this, stop. Your writing should always be targeted at customers, not trying to impress your colleagues. If you are writing captivating original content, use understandable English, especially if the topic is complicated. Grab the attention of your reader and walk them through one step at a time. Your audience will appreciate your efforts.

4 - Focus on a big idea

This is the information age. The amount of information your customers can access is more than has been available at any time in history. In spite of this, we do not have adequate relevant knowledge. Many people are starving for this. The people you write for may have an idea of what to do, but because of the clutter of information, they cannot do what they need to. You should not provide various mediocre ways of solving a certain problem they are experiencing. Your readers may not have the luxury of spare time to try and apply every remedy they get from various blogs. They need a quick, workable, and easy solution - one that explains exactly what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Give your readers what they need. When you do that, they will applaud you more than the idea you provided.

5 - Work with people who influence your audience

If you are a seasoned entrepreneur, you may have heard of influencer outreach. If you can connect with authorities in your field, you will be able to increase the number of people reached by your message. You will reach more people in a shorter time than compared to going it alone. Many business owners think influencer outreach only needs to be done once, but it is a cooperative partnership that needs to grow over time. You’ll receive higher returns if you constantly reach out to the authorities in your field. You need to develop relationships of goodwill and trust. Don’t think that influencer outreach is just a cost on your business. See it as it should be - an investment that benefits your network and your business.

6 - Create content that can grabs attention

According to Nielsen, users do not stay on a webpage for long. It is recommended that you develop content that can be understood easily and quickly, because your readers prefer to have digestible information. If you create endless content, they will only glance at your page and then leave quickly. Present the main idea with small pieces of great information, before you explore in more detail. Andy Crestodina, founder of Orbit Media Studios, advises that you should break your articles into short readable sections. Your visitors will be able to easily understand your article, and search engines are more likely to rank such content higher. Pay extra attention to formatting, such as headings, bullets and bolding since this enables readers to scan and get a quick understanding of your message.

7 - Ensure that your content has back-links

Search engines attach higher value to articles with back-links. It is advisable to respond and leave comments on relevant articles if you want to gain back-links on your articles. The comments you leave should add value to the article, otherwise they may be identified as spam. You should also publish your articles in various sites such as PublishMyself.net, ArticleOnlineDirectory, Ezine Articles, and Yahoo! Contributor Network. It is advisable to research sites that target the same audience as you, as this assists in attracting the right customers for your business.

8 - Let your content be social

It is important to promote your content through various social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Ensure you post something that will attract readers, rather than just pasting the title of your article. Readers are more likely to read captivating content that is relevant to their business needs. Ensure that your content can be shared through social plugin tools such as Wibiya and AddThis. If anyone shares your article, a back-link is automatically created to your site, and your content will be reached easily. Your website content management system will usually include other plugins that make this task easy and seamless.

9 - Be where your audience is

Do not post articles or comments on websites that are not regularly visited by your audience. As an example, it is best to skip a Facebook chat if your target audience does not, or cannot, access that chat. Spend your time intelligently by engaging in platforms where you can reach your audience. This means that you cannot often be active in more than 3 social media platforms. Social media plugins on your website can make this task very easy. This strategy should always be focused on your audience. It will become easy to know the sites they like, which blogs and publications they read,, which printed magazines or podcasts they prefer, and the forums they attend. You cannot write blog posts for people who prefer WhatsApp or podcasts, because they won't see them!

10 - Ensure your content is relevant

It is vitally important that your content is relevant to the needs and wants of your audience. It is even more important that it matches your business offerings. It is pointless writing an article that attracts customers to a product or service you cannot provide. It just wastes everyone’s time. Also, keep an eye on news articles that are relevant to your audience, and write articles that deliver a solution to any issues raised in those articles.

Even though you cannot launch a Hollywood-quality movie, you can develop content for your website or blog that captures the attention of your readers. Learn from the authorities in your area - where they started, what they failed in, what lessons they learned, and hints they may have about the business. If you can develop creative content, you will connect with people quickly. Do not tire until you hit your target; your business relies on high-quality content to achieve your goals. Always think about your customers wants and needs. You can build on that to create your captivating content. If you feel unable to develop eye-catching content, hire a writer or a company. Better still, get an influencer.

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I work on providing content for individuals and businesses all across the globe. As of now, I've delivered more than 6,500 articles, 6,000 blog posts, 20 eBooks, 3 novels and many more to my clients. I have also worked on providing content for more than 20 websites, flyers, brochures and many more.
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